Who's Your Daddy
by Thoughtless4u
Summary: When a case hits another personal nerve, it's hard to keep their emotions under control. Will the involvement of one of their own bring the team closer together or only drive them apart? Set Post 1x21. Deeks will be there.
1. Chapter 1: We've got ourselves a case

**Very many thanks to my lovely Beta-reader MyOwnWorstCritic! **

Chapter one: We've got ourselves a case

"You never really talked about your father's death..." Nate sat himself down in the seat by the window and patted on the spot next to him. Kensi stared at Nate... more like stared through him. She had been dealing with this for so long, and had indeed never told anyone. She never could. Everything was still so fresh in her mind, like it all happened just yesterday.

With Dom gone, shot before her own eyes and those of Sam and G as well, everything came back to her so fast. She experienced it all so realistically again: the sneaking out of the house at the base where her father was stationed and her father never returning there. She hadn't slept for more than 4 hours a night since Dom's death, and she knew that it would stay that way if she didn't give in to the opening Nate was giving her right now.

Kensi broke the stare and pushed herself off the pillar she was leaning against, and sat down on the spot Nate had motioned her to.

"We were living on this base in the middle of nowhere. One night I wanted to go with my friends to the movies, but my dad said no. He left me at home to go and have a beer with some guys in his platoon, so I snuck out anyway. Anyway, after that I came home. He didn't. MP's found his body on the side of the highway the next day. Coroner needed dental records to identify him," Kensi said, opening up to their psychologist and friend, but not as much as she had hoped to. She still couldn't wash away the feeling of nausea waving over her every time she thought about her dad.

Murdered.

They didn't let her near his body. Too badly beaten, she wouldn't have wanted to remember him that way—or so they thought. Every night that she hadn't been able fall asleep, she debated with herself what she would have chosen had they let her choose for herself. She still doesn't know whether she would have chosen to see him or not. Or if it would've made a difference, for that matter.

"What about his drinking buddies?" Nate broke her out of the daydreaming state she was currently in.

"Questioned, cleared, and shipped out. Case was never solved."

The only response Kensi got from Nate was a questioning look on his face.

She really wasn't ready for this part. To open up about how badly she wanted to find those guys and either ask them nicely what happened that evening, or simply murder them one by one. She just wasn't ready yet, so she smiled at Nate, cracked a joke about the Titanic movie she saw that night and stood up to leave. She slowly walked away and didn't look back while walking to her desk downstairs.

She didn't need to know if she had hurt Nate's feelings by giving up so soon. She just had to make sure it wasn't interfering with her work so he wouldn't ask her about it again.

When Kensi almost arrived at her desk, she smiled and welcomed the familiar bickering between her two best friends, forcing her to put her downbeat mood aside.

"I'm still pretty sure I'm the best Special Agent on this team." Callen's smug face was staring at the big pile of paperwork that was just dropped onto his desk, like his stare was going to dissolve the papers one by one.

"Oh yeah, and how would you define 'the best'?" Sam's mocked, looking straight towards G's face so that he could be ready for whenever his partner would look his way.

"Well that would be 'G. Callen.'"

A snort could be heard from the other side of the desk.

"I would define it as the person who's gotten himself in a dangerous situation the least because of his own stupidity." Callen still didn't look up, even though the expression on his face changed slowly into annoyance when he saw that the stack of files on his desk didn't flinch away of his angry stare.

"I would still win."

"Seriously? You really think that?" Sam was now genuinely shocked.

"Uh uh."

"Okay then, let's see... getting yourself at gunpoint while 15 Militia people are surrounding you, gotten yourself held hostage, getting yourself knocked unconscious, getting yourself three speeding tickets in a row, and of course not to be forgotten, getting yourself shot." This got the attention of Callen, making him glare at Sam, a determined look on his face.

"Losing your suspect in a chase 3 times, getting your favorite car filled with bullet holes, getting your alias already exposed after 15 seconds, and last but not least, always in need and relying on your partner." G's smile grew wider.

"See! I would still be the winner."

Just when Callen was about to become triumphant, Sam added, "Being shot five times at the same time counts double. You lose." It was Sam's turn to smile at his partner when he saw G's mouth fall open.

Right at that moment, Kensi arrived. Both men turned around and Callen saw his opportunity to win.

"Kenz, who do you think is the best Special Agent on this team?"

Her eyes flew back and forth between the two tough guys. "With or without all the facts you just mentioned?"

"With."

"Without."

Sam and Callen looked at each other with narrowed eyes when they spoke up at the same time. Kensi smiled. She liked it when they spoke at the same time. She didn't answer though, because Eric's whistle disturbed their conversation.

With a sigh, both men got up and where planning on moving towards the stairs when Kensi spoke up, "Then it would be me of course." With a big smile she walked past her two colleagues and made her way upstairs leaving behind two baffled men.

When Sam and Callen arrived in the OSP center, all the others were already present and impatiently waiting for the two last to arrive.

The little woman known as their boss was the first to speak, "Glad you could both join us. We've got ourselves a case. Eric?"

Eric gave Hetty a small nod and pushed a button on the keypad in his hands. The big screen flickered alive and started playing a video. The video was seen through a security camera; it was taken somewhere in downtown Los Angeles. Two middle-aged men on the left side of the screen were arguing, pushing and pulling at each other. There was no sound, but the man most visible to the camera was clearly yelling. After 15 seconds of arguing, the lesser visible man pulled a syringe out of his pocket and injected it into the right thigh of the man he was arguing with, emptying it completely. The injected man got a pained expression and pushed the other man away, hurrying towards an area not obscured from the security camera. After that, the video froze.

All of the people in the room kept staring at the screen, waiting for something else to happen that could explain why Hetty had them watch the video, because there was still nothing referring to the Navy. When nothing followed, Sam spoke up.

"Is there something I'm missing here or...?" The moment he said that, Sam turned his head around so he looked straight into the big smile of Callen.

"Oh, don't you even try to command that, skinny, or I'll make sure you don't miss my fist in your face."

"Would that be wise, Sam, to threaten me while Hetty's in the room?"

Sam didn't get the chance to answer that.

"I'll just answer your question, Mr. Hanna. You're not missing anything, I just haven't showed all of it yet." Again, with a single look towards Eric, the guy with the glasses spoke.

"The man in the video who was injected with the syringe tried to run the hospital..." Mid-sentence, Eric pulled up a photo on the big screen. "But he didn't get as far as he had hoped." The picture showed the man lying face up in the middle of a grass field just around the corner of the entrance to a hospital in downtown LA.

"The man you are looking at is a former Marine by the name of Glen Fortell. A little less than 15 years ago, Mr. Fortell gave up his career as a Marine to work at the counter in a supermarket. No one had ever heard of him since, until now."

Sam was again the first one to speak up after Hetty's dialogue, "So a former Marine who turned his life around almost 15 years ago, gets killed now. Why?"

"That is exactly what needs to be found out, Mr. Hanna."

As obvious as it sounded, Callen wasn't satisfied with the information presented to them. There was something missing. "How old is Fortell?"

"Next week he would've turned 47 years old," Eric said.

"So, at the time he stopped working as a Marine, he was what, 32 years old? Why stop at that age and start working in a supermarket?" G's thoughts began to wander. A long pause followed, while Hetty slowly turned her gaze from the questioning look on Mr. Callen's face towards that of his female colleague.

"I am sure Ms. Blye can provide you with that information."

With that, Ms. Lange took little, but firm steps towards the grand entrance of the OSP center to quietly leave the room. Meanwhile, the rest of the team looked at Kensi hoping she would indeed shed some light on the situation like Hetty had just said.

Only Nate didn't quite look as surprised as the rest of them...

Nate looked shocked.


	2. Chapter 2: Connections

**Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments!**

So here's the next chapter.. Enjoy and let me know what you think.  
Again, all my thanks to MyOwnWorstCritic for the beta-reading.

Chapter Two: Connections

From the moment Hetty mentioned Kensi's involvement with the video they had just watched, Nate knew it had to be about her father. It couldn't be a coincidence. A Marine who quit around 15 years ago, Kensi not saying a word the entire time in the OSP center; the horrific look on her face when everybody turned to look at her.

It wasn't just the story that made the alarm bells go off inside his head, but the state Kensi was in hit the psychological part of Nate's brain. He noticed that she was closer to collapsing on the floor than she was to explain all of it to the rest of the team. So, very carefully, Nate pushed himself off the table and slowly walked towards his female colleague, gesturing towards his other friends to stay put. They all knew, out of experience, that Nate was the one to handle these situations best, so they obeyed his silent request to not interfere with him and Kensi and didn't move an inch.

When Nate was close to Kensi, ready to touch her shoulder with his hand, the woman seemed to snap out of her inattentiveness and stared straight into Nate's eyes with a shocked expression. Just when Nate was about to pull her towards him, she moved her shoulder away from his grip and pushed him aside while storming out of the room. The force was so hard, Nate lost his balance and was tumbling straight towards the sharp point of the table but Sam's hands smoothly grabbed him before he could encounter the painful point. Nate stood up on his own legs quickly.

"Thanks." His gratitude towards his big tough colleague was only as loud as a whisper. Nate felt a hand patting his back.

"No problem, man." A small smile appeared on Sam's face but it was gone as fast as it had appeared. Worry overcame him again. Concern over the toughest yet sweetest woman he had ever met. Nate could feel someone approaching him from the other side of the room.

"What was that all about, Nate? You look like you know what's going on." The psychologist noticed the softening tone in Callen's voice when he spoke his carefully chosen words. Involvement of a team member in a case made all of the others instantly aware of their vulnerability.

"I'm not sure, but what I am sure of is that I'm going to find out. And I need you all to let me." Nate's sincere words got the attention of all present in the room. He saw them nodding at him one by one.

"Go do what you do best. We won't disturb you," Callen said, and Nate knew Callen was speaking on behalf of all of them. He gave Callen a small smile and left the room, going in search of Kensi. What he didn't see were the concerned look and tense shoulders both Sam and Callen had.

Nate didn't find too much trouble in locating Kensi. She was sitting in her chair at her own desk, in plain sight for everyone to see. With a quick glance, Nate looked towards Hetty's spot. Not a soul in sight. _Good_.

While slowly walking towards her, Nate was already working his psychological brain to figure out why Kensi would not try to hide, but to stay so close for everyone around her to find her. _Did she want to be found? And by whom? _

He sat down in the chair next to her, slowly moving towards her. Kensi hadn't moved an inch since he got there, and she was looking down at her hands, her hair covering her face. Nate tried to lay his arm around her shoulders again, knowing full well all the members of the NCIS team were usually resistant when it came to embraces and tenderness. Surprisingly enough, Nate felt no resistance this time and Kensi didn't try to move.

"You know you can talk to me, Kensi. You know you can trust me. I'll always be here for you." That statement got him slight movement from the woman underneath his arm and Nate could only think about one thing, _she was still so young and already so damaged._ Inch by inch, he moved closer to her, completing the hug with both his arms. His heart started beating faster when she hugged him back, her arms around his waist.

_Her pain, so long locked up inside of her. She had probably promised herself never to let herself fall apart in front of anyone, __and here she is still fighting that promise. _

After a long and awkwardly comforting embrace, Kensi freed herself of his grip and sat up straight.

She was ready.

She quickly wiped away the mascara that had partly transferred onto Nate's shirt. She turned her head to see the damage she had done to his shirt. She looked at him apologetically. Nate carefully shook his head. _No need to apologize at all. _

"Who is Glen Fortell, Kensi?"

He heard her take a deep breath before answering, "He was one of the guys on my dad's platoon. He was there when they picked him up to grab a beer that night. And he did come home that night while my dad didn't." Again she lowered her head.

"Have you ever spoken to him since your father's death?" Kensi firmly shook her head. "Do you have any idea who would want him dead?"

A little snort could be heard from Kensi. "Besides me? No."

Nate was taken aback by her answer, not knowing full well if it was meant sarcastically or not. What he did know was that it was not the time to ask her about it, so he continued. "You also never tried to contact him? Ever searched for him?"

"I thought about contacting him, but never did. I never had the courage to look him up to see what he had become or where he lived. If he was still married, or had children..." She paused. "Maybe now I wish I had, so he could still be alive. Or maybe…"

"You don't know that Kensi. You didn't know anyone would've wanted him dead."

A silence followed, neither of them wanting to say anything else yet. Both of them could hear voices coming out of the OSP center above them. Nate thought about the passed time since he had joined Kensi downstairs and knew they were becoming quite impatient upstairs, even though they had promised not to interfere with them. He focused back on Kensi.

"You ready to tell them?"

Kensi looked up at him and all of a sudden switched her gaze towards the stairs, where they could both see the figure of Callen walking out of the shadows of the room upstairs. Nate was about to get angry with their Senior Field Agent when he saw the concern and trouble in his eyes while looking down at Kensi. After the longest glare Nate had ever witnessed between the two colleagues, Kensi finally stood up and headed towards the exit door.

"You tell them. You know everything I know. I'm not ready to do it." With that she departed and Nate was left alone with an empty chair and an NCIS team full of questions.

After moving back upstairs and enlightening the others about Kensi's story, the room became quiet. All of them could almost feel the pain and worry Kensi was in right now. They all had their losses; all had their battles to win. But something that hit so close to home... Only Callen was as close to feeling what Kensi was feeling.

After hearing Nate's words, Callen could feel a small shiver travel through his body, luckily for him, no one else saw it. Everybody kept quiet, lost in their own thoughts.

After letting his eyes swift through the dark room, Callen straightened up. _They needed to solve this one, and fast_. "Eric, what else do we know about this Glen Fortell?"

Eric was snapped out of his thoughts and quickly began typing on his keypad in hand. The big screen showed multiple files and photos. Sam moved towards the screen and started sorting though the documents one by one.

"No criminal records besides some speeding tickets. Looks like he's married. No kids. Parents are deceased. Has one older brother. Hmm…"

"What is it, Sam?"

Sam turned his head towards G. "He's soon to follow his younger brother. Guy's got terminal lung cancer." Callen knew they had to act fast if they wanted all the information. Callen made up his mind.

"Sam, you take Nate and pay Fortell's wife and brother a visit. I'll go to the crime scene and see what I can find with Eric on standby."

Eric nodded in his direction. _You got it._

Callen walked out of the OSP room with a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. _Something wasn't right._ He couldn't explain what or why, but he just felt that time was of big importance in this case, for their sakes as well as Kensi's.

Once outside, he took a look around to see if he could find Kensi anywhere. She was nowhere in sight. Maybe it was for the best not to get her involved in this case, remembering the reaction she had after seeing Fortell's dead body. But when she was still nowhere to be seen after Callen had reached his car, he knew there was only one place left she could be. Callen slowly stepped in the car, avoiding the confrontation as long as possible. The moment he was about to start his engine, he heard a sound.

"Will we be taking the family or the crime scene?" Callen sighed and the engine stopped roaring again. He turned his head towards the passenger seat.

"Nice hiding spot."

"Thank you."

"Hiding in plain sight. It's new, and actually worked well this time."

"Thank you."

Callen saw a little smile appear on Kensi's face. His face became sincere again.

"You know it's not the right thing to do to get involved in this case, Kenz. It'll only be a matter of time before Hetty officially throws you off of it."

Now, it was Kensi's turn to look sincere. "But she hasn't yet, has she? And you want to know what happens when you tell her I shouldn't be involved?" Kensi shot G a daring glare. _She was good._

"Well, tell me. I'm quite curious now."

"Oh, you know, how you abused your authority to make us tell you stuff while you were thrown off a case." Callen gave her a look like he wasn't even fazed by this threat. "Or how you led us all in danger by your stupid actions to infiltrate a militia group and put our lives on the line when you had no way out." Kensi could instantly feel how she had crossed the invisible line, even though it was meant as a joke. She needed to be on this case. It was her only hope.

Callen's face instantly turned into a deep frown, the guilt washing over him after Kensi had said that. _Was she telling the truth?_ After a short pause, Callen carefully turned his keys into the ignition, his car roaring back to life. "You will regret this sooner or later, Kenz."

With that, he drove away following the address Eric had sent to his GPS, not knowing how right he was about his retort…


	3. Chapter 3: Field Day

**Thanks again to my beta-reader MyOwnWorstCritic.**

**Please read & review.. Let me know what you think, so I can use your opinions in the next chapters. You'll make me sincerely happy with more reviews! :)**

**Most of all.. Enjoy!**

__

Chapter Three: Field Day

The crime scene was about 30 minutes away from their office, and the ride to it was silent. Neither Kensi or Callen could find the right words to say.

Kensi was quietly thinking about the best time to apologize to Callen, while looking out of the window of the Silver Aston Martin. Although she wasn't sure about the timing yet, one thing was for certain: she was going to apologize no matter what. Callen had been the best friend and colleague she could have ever wished for since joining NCIS.

He always had her back and protected her, but also encouraged her to do things she thought were out of her limit. He had seen great potential in her since the beginning and Kensi knew she could never have gotten this far without him. And now she had offended him like she had never before. She knew Callen had nobody besides his family at NCIS and therefore his ambitions were simple: protecting and serving them. And with one sentence she had brought all of that in peril, just to be in on a case. And there was no way she was going to let him wonder about that any longer than was necessary.

The slowing of the car brought Kensi out of her trance-like state. She carefully turned her head towards the driver but never got a real chance to look him right in the face since Callen was already leaving the car, pulling the keys out of the ignition while the car hadn't even fully stopped yet.

Truth be told, Callen couldn't handle it any longer inside of the car. The quiet ride gave way to his thoughts, and he was never happy to give them a free ride. It was only a matter of time before they wandered off towards the dark place. The guilt would always wash over him one way or the other. With Kensi's words still ringing fresh in his ears, he wondered about the true meaning of these words.

What if she was right about it? Did he lure them towards danger only because he was on suicide-patrol? He'll admit he didn't care much about himself, he only thought about the people he would save with his missions, but bringing his friends and colleagues with him would be unbearable for him. But on the other hand, was he all responsible for their wellbeing just because he was the Senior Field Agent? His thoughts were beginning to make less and less sense and he was relieved when he saw his GPS warning him they were closing in on their destination. Without bringing the car come to a complete halt, he let the engine die and got out of the car before he let way to more negative thoughts.

* * *

Sam and Nate choose to pay Fortell's wife a visit before going to the brother. Although it wasn't officially part of their job, Sam had always felt the need to pay his respects to the family of those who were lost. Neither Sam nor Nate knew if either the wife or the brother knew more of why Glen Fortell was murdered in the first place, so it was an easy choice to follow Sam's gut and go to the spouse first.

Soon they found themselves standing on the doorstep of a humble but nice looking home just on the outside of the downtown of Los Angeles, and Sam knocked, his other hand carefully wrapped around the gun strapped to the backside of his waistband. After a second knock from Nate, both of the NCIS agents heard footsteps coming closer and the door being opened. Sam felt his hand around the gun loosen when he saw the red-eyed middle-aged woman opening the door.

"Please leave, I'm not in the mood for selling any..." the woman started, but Nate interrupted her.

"Mrs. Fortell? NCIS, this is Special Agent Hanna and I'm Nate Getz. We're here to talk about your husband, Glen Fortell?" Upon hearing the name of her deceased husband, the eyes of the woman in front of them starting welling up again.

"Oh... Please come in." She held out the door for the two men to enter the house. A couple of footsteps later and they were in the living room, Sam still looking around the house with an observant eye.

"Are you alone, Mrs. Fortell?" Sam needed to be sure.

"Yes, yes I am. And please call me Jennifer. Or Jen." The woman had settled down on the couch, tissues at hand.

Nate saw multiple used tissues spread out on the floor next to her. He consequently lowered himself to her level, enabling himself to look the woman straight in the eye. He looked up towards Sam and with a nod from the former navy SEAL, he started, "We are very sorry for your loss, Jennifer. We can imagine how hard this must be for you."

The woman didn't reply, but blew her nose into one of the unused tissues.

"Do you have any idea who would want your husband dead? Or why?" Upon hearing this, Nate saw the woman straighten up, looking him directly in the eyes.

"I've been thinking about that the moment I heard about the news. I have no idea. Glen was so..." Fresh tears were falling down while Jennifer spoke up, "sweet and nice. So selfless. Everybody in the neighborhood loved him. He didn't have many friends from his time as a Marine, but he seemed pretty content with the life he had here. With me."

Nate let a silence fill the room before continuing, "Were you already with him or married to him while he was Marine?"

"Yes, I've been married to him since we were 26 years old. 18 years of marriage, just gone in one moment…" Another sob could be heard.

"Do you know why he quit the Marines to start working in a supermarket?"

This got Nate an angry look from Mrs. Fortell, "Have you ever served in war, Mr…"

"Getz. Nate Getz. And no, I haven't."

"So you don't know what you're asking then."

At that point, Sam returned from his quick tour through the Fortell house which turned up nothing worth mentioning. "But I have, Jennifer. You only quit the Marines when you are certain you can't add anything to the job anymore or are very upset about something that has happened causing you to lose your trust in the Marines. It must've been one of those two reasons why your husband quit, Mrs. Fortell."

Jennifer stared at Sam for a couple of seconds, suddenly forgetting about the tears and tissues she had used before. After a long pause, she slowly rose up from her chair and stood right in front of Sam.

"So that's it? I'm not even going to get time to grieve before you're barging into my home to accuse my husband of something bad?"

Both Sam and Nate were taken aback by the angry response of the woman. Sam felt the need to clarify himself, but didn't get the chance.

"I would like you gentlemen to leave my house now." Jennifer Fortell folded her arms, making clear it was best to follow her advice. And so Sam and Nate nodded towards the woman as a goodbye and slowly made their way out of the house.

Once back in Sam's car, Nate spoke up, "So… that went well. Do you get so much love from all those people when you're with Callen?"

This earned a chuckle from Sam. _Whenever G is involved, there's always time for mocking_. "It usually takes Callen less time to make them upset. He always manages to get himself thrown out of the house before we even enter."

Somehow, Nate could perfectly imaginethat. He started laughing when Sam started the engine, already heading for Fortell's brother. _This is going to be fun._

_

* * *

_

Callen had parked his car just in front of the yellow crime scene tape. Both his and Kensi's eyes were immediately drawn towards the grass field in front of them.

_Blood_.

Callen's left eyebrow rose. His head turned towards Kensi, who stared at him in return. They slowly ducked underneath the tape and walked towards the little blood pool in the middle of the scene. Kensi kneeled down and put two of her fingers in it. Not even sticky yet.

"It's fresh." Callen was already looking around the scene but came up empty after a few minutes.

"No blood drops or blood trail anywhere near the place the body was found." Kensi stood up, hands putting on her side.

"So he wasn't bleeding while he was running from the initial crime scene towards here." Without another word, Callen was dialing the coroner's number while Kensi looked around, looking for other evidence that was possibly left behind. Callen heard the coroner picking up the phone.

"Pathology Center, Dr. Rose Schwartz.."

"Hey, it's Callen. Did you already examine the body of Glen Fortell, the dead ex-Marine?"

"Uhm... let me take a look. Anything you want to know in particular?"

"Did he have any other wounds besides the one done by the syringe?"

"Let me check." Callen was put on hold while the coroner was looking over her report.

Meanwhile, something got Kensi's attention. In the bushes around 50 yards from the middle of the scene, a small piece of paper was stuck between two branches. Kensi pulled the yellow paper from the bushes with her black gloved hand. It was a Post-It with an address scribbled down on it. In the upper left corner, Kensi saw a tiny red smear that looked like blood. She turned the Post-It around. The whole backside of the piece was covered in red blood, with only little voids drawing small lines over the paper. _Someone held this in their bloody hand. _

She turned around to look at Callen. She saw him standing with his back towards her, looking at some imprinted part of the grass below him. She made up her mind quickly. She grabbed a plastic bag and dropped the piece of paper in it only to put the bag into her black leather jacket. It could be the only clue to whoever had murdered her father and why. While still deep in thought, she didn't hear footsteps approaching her.

"You find something?"

Kensi turned her head let out a big sigh of relief. "Jeez, you scared the hell out of me."

Callen's eyebrow rose. "So if I was the killer and came back to finish the job, you would've been dead."

Kensi didn't answer but narrowed her eyes while relaxing again, "Funny."

"It's not funny actually. It's not that farfetched that I could've been someone that wanted to hurt you. Are you still focused, Kensi?"

The woman's heart skipped a beat when she heard Callen saying her full name instead of her pet name, Kenz, which was solely used by Callen, "Yes, yes I am. And no, I didn't find anything. You?"

Callen wasn't convinced but let it slide for now. He focused on the case again, "Yeah, I'll show you."

Both of them walked towards the middle of the scene again where they first found the blood. G pointed towards two imprinted parts in the grass.

"Looks like someone had been standing here." He also motioned to the imprinted part of the grass in the form of a person who had been lying on the ground. "That someone was probably standing over the victim, Glen Fortell."

Kensi let out a small shiver upon hearing the name of her father's friend, which didn't go unnoticed by Callen. Her reaction had been the main reason why he mentioned the full name of their victim.

"Where does that lead us?" Kensi spoke up, while Callen concentrated on the grass again.

"The coroner wasn't finished with examining the body yet, but what she did find was another little entry wound very close to the puncture in his leg where the syringe was injected. Would probably fit another syringe. Almost like someone wanted to use the same entry point of the first syringe to cover up his tracks."

Upon hearing this, Kensi's mind started to work in overdrive.

"So that could've been the same person who injected the first syringe, or someone who knew what was going on and wanted to finish what the other started."

Callen nodded, "The coroner said he could've easily been bleeding from the last puncture wound since it was deeper than the first, which could explain the blood over here and not on the way he came from. But it would've never caused him to die from it."

"So he died from whatever they injected him with."

Callen's face now dropped, "Exactly. And there's the problem. A Tox screen is running as we speak, but if there are two different kinds of toxins used, we may not be able to identify both of them because they are likely to contaminate each other."

Both of the agents stood in silence while thinking about the difficult turn the case had just taken. Slowly the reality crept in.

"So we not only have squat..."

"... We can't prove a thing."


	4. Chapter 4: Family Ties

**SO here's my next chapter.. again many thanks for the wonderful work of MyOwnWorstCritic, who beta-read this chapter while having so much other things on her mind. **

**This chapter will be one without much action but with lots of information.. I promise you, this story will soon be action filled!**

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Chapter Four: Family Ties

The ride towards Fortell's brother was filled with possible reasons why Glen Fortell was killed and who could have done it. Since they didn't have much information yet, theories soon became farfetched and unrealistic but mostly funny. Time flew and before they knew it, Sam and Nate were pulling over at the sidewalk near their destination. They got out of the car and slowly walked towards the big house in front of them.

"That's some house here, Nate. What does your psychological mind make of that?" Sam smiled while looking at Nate.

"I'd say that the guy has a lot of money." Sam laughed.

"Good thinking! I guess your study was worth something after all." Both men arrived at the front door. After some knocking and waiting, nobody answered and Sam tried the doorknob. _Unlocked. Should he be doing this with Nate? _

He gestured towards Nate to stand back and pulled his gun out at the same time. Nate did as he was told and was soon left alone when Sam firmly opened the door and walked into the house. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary first but he needed to be certain so he slowly scanned the whole house with his gun drawn. At the end of the living room was a conservatory, beautifully located with the sun beaming in and a view quite indescribable. While Sam took a few steps in the living room, he thought something was off. The house was nicely decorated, everything perfectly in place. But it seemed a little too perfect. Almost like nothing had been touched for quite a while. Upon entering the living room, Sam saw the shadow of someone approaching, because he had a complete view over the conservatory. Without any hesitation, he moved into the conservatory with his gun pointing towards the shadow.

"Federal agent, hands where I can see them!" The person belonging to the shadow slowly turned around, and then Sam noticed the small height of the figure coming into view. A guy in a wheelchair managed to turn his wheels around so he was clearly visible for Sam to see.

A raspy voice filled the silence, "I'm sorry but I don't think I can manage holding up my arms that long." Sam lowered his gun and let out a sigh.

"I apologize, I didn't notice that you were..." He was looking for the right word.

"Handicapped? Bound? Terminal?" Only then did the federal agent notice the two big cans of oxygen behind the chair and the tube that was inserted into the guy's nose. _That would certainly explain the lack of use of the house. _He stepped forward and held out his hand.

"I'm Special Agent Sam Hanna, NCIS."

The guy managed to lift his right hand just enough to grab Sam's hand.

"Derek... Fortell... You're here... For my... Brother?" Derek was already out of breath because of the sentences he had just said and had to take multiple breathing pauses while talking.

"Yes, yes, we are. I'm not alone, my partner is still outside." Upon saying that, Sam raised his voice. "Nate, all clear. I'm in the living room!"

Both men could hear the footsteps coming closer and Nate soon came into view. He wasn't surprised in the least when he saw the man in the wheelchair. _Terminal lung cancer would do that do you._

"This is my partner Nate Getz, also with NCIS."

Nate didn't hold out his hand but raised it instead. "Hi. Sorry to bother you in your condition." Nate felt more comfortable talking to the handicapped man than Sam.

"Please, sit down... Would love to... Offer you a drink. But..." Derek simply gestured towards his wheelchair.

"No problem." Both men sat down on the veranda while facing Derek Fortell.

Nate curiosity got the upper hand. "How long..?"

"Do I have to live?" A coughing fit followed. Nate quickly stood up and held up one of the tissues that were lying on the table. He felt a shiver cursing through his body when he saw the amount of blood coming out of Derek's mouth while coughing. After a full minute, the coughs finally subsided.

"It doesn't need a doctor... To see it won't be... Long." Derek inhaled deeply a couple of times before continuing. "So what do you want to know?"

Sam motioned towards Nate and started the conversation himself this time. "We are very sorry for your loss…"

Mr. Fortell looked sad. "Ah well... It's not like... I could've enjoyed... Him much longer anyway..." He stirred in his wheelchair. "I just feel... So sad... For… Jen. She's great."

Sam and Nate looked sympathetic. "Were you close?"

Derek started staring into his beautiful back yard. "Jen loved... This house... The garden... Porch... Came here often."

A questioning look came onto Nate's face. "Did your brother approve of that? Ever fought about it?"

Derek shook his head. "No way... Glen was kind... Jen too... We never fought."

Sam tried a different angle when he felt like the conversation was going towards a dead end. "Do you have any idea who would've wanted your brother dead or why?"

"Like I told you... The guy was kind... Almost a... Saint."

A silence followed.

"But only after... He came back... From the war."

This got both Sam and Nate's attention. "What do u mean?"

A small smile appeared on the man in the wheelchair while thinking about back in the day. "As kids, we had... The greatest fun... Glen was... The toughest... Coolest... He even bullied... Other children..."

Nate made an mental note before Derek continued.

"But after the war... He was... Different... Kind... Never did... Anything wrong... He was..."

Sam was becoming impatient. "He was what, Mr. Fortell?"

Derek turned his head around to face the agent.

"Too kind... Glen had become too kind... Like a bad thing... Had come to hunt him... And he needed to... Come clean... He quit the Marines... So soon after he came back... Working in a supermarket... Strange... It was off."

"Did he ever talked about it with you, or his wife?"

Derek now focused completely on the two agents again. "No... Tried to ask but... He always told me... He was fed up... With fighting... And I didn't push him... Maybe you should ask... His friends... From his platoon..."

Sam and Nate stood up and Nate moved closer towards the man in front of them. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Fortell, and…" Nate took a moment before he continued with an honest voice while holding out a card. "And I hope it will be a painless ride for you. Please call me if you feel the need to talk about it."

Derek Fortell was truly moved by Nate's words. "Thank you, son. Thank you."

Sam patted Nate on the shoulder, a motion that they were ready to go. Both of them said their goodbyes and found their way out of the house towards the car. Both of them were still touched by the scene they just witnessed and the ride back to the office became a quite one.

* * *

Sam and Nate had arrived earlier than Callen and both of them were drinking coffee while waiting for their colleague. Nate took a quick look around.

"Have you seen Kensi?"

"Nope." Sam smacked his lips loudly after another sip of his coffee, which earned him an annoyed look from Nate.

"Shouldn't we be looking for her?"

Another smack.

"Why? She's not 12 years old."

Another smack.

"No, but the case does hit close to home." Nate got really annoyed when he heard another smack.

"There's always something hitting close to home. And you know what's really annoying?"

Nate head became slightly red with the irritating sound of Sam's lips. "You smacking after every sip of coffee you take?"

Sam smiled genuinely, happy that he had once again succeeded in annoying the psychologist.

"What's really annoying, is when your partner has 37 homes. There's always something hitting close to home." Sam's smile grew wider, and when the meaning of Sam's words came through, Nate couldn't resist to smile too. Soon both of them were laughing out loud. A sudden hand on Nate's shoulder made him silent abruptly when Nate looked up in shock to the cause of their laughter.

"Oh. Hi Callen."

G stared at his partner. "You were laughing at me, weren't you?"

Sam stood up and put his arm around Callen's shoulder while smiling. "We only speak of love when we speak about you G. Only love."

Just before G was about to answer that, a whistle could be heard. They all looked upstairs to see Eric leaning over the banister. "We've got something."

Only then did Nate see Kensi standing behind Callen. Just as she was about to start walking towards the stairs, he stepped in front of her.

Kensi looked annoyed. "Nate, I don't need this right now." Nate's eyebrow rose. "I'm fine." The annoyed look stayed.

"Should you be in on this case, Kensi? Isn't this too much for you?"

Kensi slowly but firmly pushed Nate aside, choosing not to answer him.

"If it's too much, you'll be the first to know." With that, Kensi almost ran upstairs followed by a sighing Nate.

* * *

Once upstairs, Eric began talking immediately.

"I looked at every security camera near the site the video was taken, but couldn't find anything. None of these cameras got a clear view of our victim or killer."

"So that's nothing. What's the something?" Upon hearing Sam's question, Eric smiled.

"What I didn't know was that there is a different camera."

"A different camera?"

Everybody in the room looked confused, so Eric elaborated. "A different camera was installed by the hospital. Nearby the hospital, they hold a storage for medical supplies but someone stole a large amount of supplies from the storage a while back, after which the hospital decided to put a camera over there to prevent it from getting stolen again." The room stayed silent, so he continued while showing the view of the camera near the storage of the hospital.

"That camera, indeed captured something." Now, Eric got everybody's attention and with a smile, he pressed play.

"Footage from the hour our victim was killed."

The video showed the grass field where Glen Fortell was eventually robbed of life. He appeared on the screen and stopped in the middle of the field to catch his breath. His face was shown on the camera and he painfully held one hand on his leg where the syringe had entered his body. He was sweating all over his face and body. After a minute or so, he straightened up and took a step towards the hospital, when another guy in black clothes approached him from behind. Glen looked around shocked, and tried to fight of his attacker but failed miserably. With a blow to the head, Glen fell down on his back. A syringe was pulled and the attacker kneeled down.

The syringe entered his leg and the victim quickly dead suffering from whatever toxin was circulating in his body.

The video froze.

"So there was indeed another syringe." Sam, Nate and Eric turned around to look at Callen, which made the Senior Field agent start to explain what he and Kensi had found at the crime scene. After that, Sam also shared their part.

Callen turned towards Eric. "Can you identify the attacker at all, Eric?"

"No. No face. The only thing I can say for certain is that the guy from this video is definitely not the same guy as the one from the first video."

"So two attackers, working individually from each other." Callen's mind began working.

"Okay, this is what we'll do. Nate, you will do a full profiling of our victim, his wife and his brother." Nate nodded in agreement.

"Kensi, you'll keep us posted about the coroner's findings." Kensi also nodded towards their team leader.

"Eric, you start looking for anything that might help us identify the attackers. And Sam and I will walk through both crime scenes, see what we can come up with."

All of them made a move to start their respective tasks, when they were abruptly stopped in front of the doors of the OSP Center by an angry Hetty Lange.

"You won't do anything until I speak with Ms. Blye."


	5. Chapter 5: Hetty

**My sincere apologies for the delay. Exams, trouble, you know the deal. Anyway, here's chapter 5 of my story about Kensi, the mystery of her dad and Callen right in the middle of it. Please read & review! Because of the absence of my beta-reader, this chapter is not beta-ed unfortunately. Be gentle. **

Chapter Five: Hetty

Four men were waiting impatiently in the OSP room after they had seen Hetty and Kensi leaving. It had almost been ten minutes and they hadn't heard a thing yet. Each and every one of them wanted to go downstairs, to see what was going on, but Hetty had forbidden it. And so they had stayed put. As of natural, Sam became the first to be annoyed. He looked around the room to see that nothing had changed since the last ten minutes: Eric was still playing his new Call of Duty game on mute, Nate had picked a computer and had already started on his task to profile the ones involved. Sam turned his head to the right and found the last person unaccounted for. After Kensi had gone with Hetty, G had sat down on a chair and hadn't done a thing since. Sam had noticed a look between his best friend and their female partner before she had left, but had no idea what it had meant. At the moment he didn't care. The thing that worried him more was the unusual stare Callen had been expressing for the last ten minutes. Sam rolled his stool towards his partner and when Callen still didn't move, Sam touched his shoulder to get his attention. Slowly the touched one moved his head towards him.

"Hey man, what's up?" Sam noticed that it took Callen some force to put aside the thoughts he had been so occupied by for the last ten minutes. When he finally succeeded, he bowed his head.

"It's my fault." Sam had somehow expected this answer. _He's always blaming himself. Maybe the G stands for Guilt._

"How? I don't get it." Callen let out a sigh.

"I should've never let her come with me."

"She probably said please. Nobody can resist Kensi saying please." Sam tried to cheer him up with a joke, but it only resulted in a very tiny little smile from Callen. _At least it is something. _The ex-Navy Seal put his arm around his partner.

"Come on man. Stop blaming yourself. You can't protect all of us all the time. Kensi is a big girl, she knows what she's doing." Sam now stared straight into the icy blue eyes of his best friend and didn't like what he saw. He was seriously blaming himself. Suddenly, his look turned towards determination and Callen slowly stood up.

"No. I don't think she does know what she's doing." With that, he left a defeated Sam behind and walked towards the exit doors, determined to protect Kensi. Not so much to protect her from Hetty, but mostly from herself.

* * *

When Callen arrived at the stairs, he already saw Kensi and Hetty talking and from the looks of it, it was a heated fight. Neither of them had noticed him yet and so he walked down the stairs as silent as possible. When he arrived at Hetty's desk, still neither had attention for him and they continued their argument. Upon scraping his throat, both women turned their heads towards him. Kensi's head had turned a slight shade of red while Hetty's glasses had made their way down her nose a little. Although the male detective could see the anger boiling inside of his boss, she stayed calm.

"I thought I told you to stay upstairs until I say otherwise." Callen put his hands in his trouser pockets.

"I know, but I have something important to say." Hetty folded her arms.

"What could be more important than this conversation?" Callen tried to make eye contact with Kensi but the woman was avoiding his direction. He let out a inaudible sigh.

"It's my fault. I told Kensi she could stay onto the investigation until I said so. You can't blame her. In my opinion, she can still stay onto it. We could use all the help we've got." Upon hearing that, Kensi's head switched towards him. He saw tears welling up in her eyes. He tried to smile but failed. He tried hard to keep his face from betraying the double feeling he had about this matter. Although he'd firmly admit Kensi is one of the greatest and talented young agents in the country, her state of mind he witnessed when they were at the crime scene made him doubt very hard about the capability of her staying focused during this personal case.

He heard a sound from Hetty's direction.

"Oh Mr. Callen…"

"It's the truth." Hopeful brown eyes stared towards the tiny little woman and it almost looked like the birthmark in Kensi's eye became more pronounced. After a long pause, Hetty spoke again.

"You are too involved, Ms. Blye. It's too dangerous for you. I can't keep you on the case, not officially and not personally." Kensi couldn't control her actions anymore and rose up, shoving the chair away loudly. Hetty called her name while the female agent had already turned her back towards both Hetty and Callen.

"IF… If I find out you're still working this case one way or the other, there will be serious consequences. And when I say serious, I mean bloody serious, Ms. Blye. Keep that in mind." Without turning around, Kensi stormed out of their sight. Callen and Hetty shared a look of understanding before the man ran after his colleague to save whatever there was still left of their female agent.

* * *

Callen had caught up with Kensi just outside the front door of their extraordinary office. He sprinted the last part and squeezed his hand around her shoulder, demanding her to stop. But she wasn't going to let go that easily. She forcefully tried to free herself from his grip, but he was still stronger.

"Let go of me." She again tried to wrestle her shoulder away but learned Callen wasn't going to loosen his grip. She changed over to plan B. Kensi grabbed his arm with her other hand. Callen wasn't expecting this and without too much force, his arm ended up behind his back. Soon he got a hold of himself again and with ease he turned himself out of the awkward situation. Since he didn't want her to overpower him again, he embraced her with both of his arms, forcing her close to him.

"Let go of me, G!" He felt her fists hitting his chest multiple times and although it did hurt him, he set his teeth to not show her how he felt. _She is already hurt enough. _Quickly though, she stopped trying to free herself from his grip and she calmed down. She straightened up and he let go of her while keep standing in front of her.

"Take it easy, Kenz. Running away never helped anyone." She didn't dare to look him straight in the eye yet so she moved her head sideways.

"I know." When she still didn't look at him, Callen felt the figurative distance between them grow bigger.

"And I know how much you want in on this case. But if Hetty says so.."

"I know."

"We will do our very best to catch whoever murdered Fortell." He saw Kensi's face relax a bit more after hearing those words.

" And will there be any information related to your father or his death, we will find it. You know that too."

"I know." Kensi let out a sigh. The male agent's brow furrowed.

"Than what's the matter?" A long pause followed. Kensi's head stayed low and Callen saw her biting her lip. She doubted if she would tell him her secret, thinking through the possibilities of finding out the truth about her father's death and losing her job. But she couldn't let go. She couldn't let go of her only hope. She felt Callen's hand touch her shoulder again when he spoke up.

"You know you can talk to me, Kenz. You know you can trust me. I'll always be there for you." Upon hearing these words, a shiver cursed through her body. Only hours ago, Nate had said the exact same thing. She slowly looked up and saw the honesty that radiated out of the clear ocean eyes in front of her. Again she felt tears welling up but she managed to keep them from falling down. Very, very slowly but determined her hand moved towards her pocket. She grabbed Callen's hand from her shoulder and she shoved the plastic evidence bag inside of it without unlocking their eyes.

The moment he felt the bag inside his hand, everything just fell into place. _That's why she wanted to stay on this case so badly. That's why she was so jumpy at the scene. She was holding back evidence. But she had given it to him eventually. _

"Thank you." He finally looked down at the bag in his hand. It was a piece of paper, smeared with blood. An address was written on it.

"You found this at the crime scene." Kensi only nodded.

"Where?"

"The bushes. Looked like he was holding it in his hand." Callen searched for Kensi's eyes again. _He needed to know._

"Why? Why keep it?" Kensi started to ramble.

"I don't know. It was stupid. IS stupid. Completely stupid. But I couldn't just let it go. The moment I saw the paper, I knew it had something to do with my father. I just knew it. But I don't have any evidence for that. It's just my gut telling me I should keep it and find out the truth myself before wasting it again." She didn't know if she made any sense, but was relieved to see the understanding in her colleague's eyes. He slowly nodded.

"I know the feeling."

"Always trust your guts, right?" Callen tried to smile but failed for the second time today.

"Right."

"So..?"

"So what?"

"What are you going to do with it?"

"It's evidence. I'll put it together with the other evidence we find. We'll find out what's hidden there, Kenz. We will." Kensi's face became shocked and she snitched the paper out of Callen's hand again before he could react.

"NO! You can't do that." Callen put his hands up in defeat.

"I have to! It's evidence. I can't withhold it, you know that!" Kensi grabbed his shirt to empower her next statement.

"Wait for it.. just for today. Just for tonight. You can put it together with the rest first thing tomorrow morning. Just give me one night." Now it was Callen's turn to look shocked.

"What? Are you kidding me?" When he found it Kensi was indeed telling the truth, he became angry.

"You can't do that. They'll find out. Hetty'll find out. And she'll fire you. And not just fire you! You will endanger the case all together. All the other evidence will be pronounced compromised and the murderer will go free. IF we find him at all without knowing what you found at that address." Although Kensi knew the true meaning behind his words, she could only think about that one clue she needed to find out what happened to her father. And _why._ She was so close, she couldn't let go.

"I don't care." With those words she started to walk away. Callen made a quick sprint and stood in front of her again within seconds.

"You are CRAZY! We can't lose you! You can't lose yourself like that!" Still, his words didn't have the outcome he had hoped for. Tears were now slowly making their way down her face.

"I need to, G. I need to. I can't help it. If I don't do this, I will never forgive myself. You hear me? NEVER." Again she walked past by him and walked away. When Callen looked at her, slowly walking the small aisle, the shivers cursed through his body. He knew exactly how the picture looked like.

_Someone on __his way to his death penalty. _

He couldn't let that happen. If there was somebody who deserved all of the goodness in life, it was the woman in front of him, now digging her own grave with every step she took.

_He couldn't. _

Before she was about to turn the corner, she felt another hand touching her back. This time the hand didn't use force, but it had an enormous effect. It felt like she became paralyzed. She slowly turned around, her tired face now again staring straight into the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.

"I'll go."


	6. Chapter 6: Secrets

**Next chapter is up! How will Kensi react? And Callen? Find it below! Don't forget to R&R****  
All my thanks to my new beta-reader, It'sMyFavoriteSong**

Chapter Six: Secrets

Before she had time to react, the paper's delicate weight had been removed from her hand. Her vision was blurred by a long unfamiliar liquid that had coated her mismatched eyes, yet they couldn't seem to let go of the face that hovered in her field of vision. She could see he was determined to help her, and she knew that once he got like this there would be no stopping him. After all this time of working so closely with him, going undercover as lovers, as family, as a married couple... she knew his looks and his gazes, and she knew he was currently thinking something along the lines of, _we're doing it my way or not at all_.

Callen backed up slowly from the increasingly irate woman, making his way back to the office while folding the little plastic bag in his pocket. He kept her gaze until the door was only inches from his hand. Another short pause, his hand touched the handle, and he was gone. Gone from her sight.

Kensi stood, rooted to the spot. She was paralyzed. Paralyzed by his presence and his actions, his God-forsaken selflessness... but when his face disappeared inside the building, the feeling in her legs and arms suddenly returned, and she could felt the full force of the exhaustion that had built up inside of her.

So, she calmly made her way around the corner, preferring to get out of the way of nosy, albeit well meaning, colleagues who didn't know her well enough to know not to try and offer what they might believe to be some semblance of comfort. She needed to be alone, or at least that's what she might've said had someone had the balls to ask, but most of her male coworkers valued their- erm- _special places_ too much to even begin to cross that line.

Once secluded from any curious onlookers, Kensi let herself slide down the rough brick wall of the Mission. Fresh tears were making their way down her cheeks, but by this point she was powerless to stop them. All she could find the energy to do was hold her hands in front of her eyes with her elbows on her knees and let it out.

She couldn't believe what she had just done. It wasn't bad enough that she had been pushing her own will too hard without thinking about the consequences her actions could have… No… now she had involved someone else… someone she cared about. This team was the only family she had, and now she had unintentionally put Callen in harms way. A hazard of the job, maybe, but she knew from experience that only when someone got too involved did it ever get this far, and she was a first class example. enforce

_Callen… _She shook her head as the realization sunk in. _I am putting his life in danger for my own selfish ass._ It was the one rule Hetty had stressed above all others. **Have your partner's back and work as a team. **It said something for her small dysfunctional family that they were sticking by her through this at all. Callen's insistence on helping her, though annoying, only gave away how much he cared. But Kensi… Kensi had failed. She had broken the promise she had made so willingly, with such conviction… and she hadn't even stopped to consider it until now. Now she had indirectly forced this man, her partner, her brother, maybe something completely different… she had indirectly forced him to do something so potententially dangerous… for her… without the knowledge of the rest of the team… their family.

Kensi knew that, even though she hadn't asked him, she had indeed forced him to do this for her. Because that's how G. Callen works. _Whenever there's something to lose, he would do it himself. _Her head was still shaking while the thoughts in her head became stronger. She had a feeling that something was about the go terribly wrong, that there would be no one to blame but herself, and that there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it.

She probably would've sat there all day if she had heard the approaching footsteps and been able to slip away from whoever was coming to try and talk to her. She slowly looked up and was only slightly surprised to see Hetty standing over her. She quickly wiped away the tears from her face, but didn't have the strength yet to stand up. Hetty remained, saying nothing, standing perfectly still with her hands behind her back.

When the younger agent had composed herself, Hetty finally spoke. "I just saw Mr. Callen storming upstairs to the Ops room. He didn't seem quite happy." Kensi didn't reply.

"Is there something I should know, Ms. Blye?" Kensi looked up again. What if she just told her? How easy would that be? But she couldn't, of course. Callen was now involved, there was no backing out anymore.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hetty had seen the worry flare in the usually bright confidant eyes before her at the mention of her Senior Field Agent and relaxed a bit. At least they still cared for each other, nothing that couldn't be healed. Although she was filled with curiosity about the contents of the conversation her two agents had shared just before Callen had angrily stormed by, it was best to let it rest for now. She needed to trust them.

Hetty nodded, electing to remain satisfied with the information she had gathered.

"Alright," she said with a shrug, her expression only _mildly _mischievous. She began to walk away but not before she spoke one last time,"Mr. Callen is a big boy. Don't worry about him, go home and get some rest. You'll get the day off."

With that, the little woman took her leave, accompanied by a nagging feeling that the day wouldn't end quite as expected.

When Callen had entered the OSP room again, Sam noticed immediately that _something was off. _He watched calmly as his best friend barged into the room, overheated and talking loudly, flashing dangerously at anything that had the misfortune to find itself in his path. Sam knew better than to try and intervene, so he waited patiently until his partner finished with his temper tantrum.

"We've got the go-ahead from Hetty, so let's do this the way we planned. Oh and Nate?" The psychiatrist nodded, his attention already focused on the duo courtesy of Callen's little fit, "Keep an eye out for the coroner's results, we need them ASAP." Nate nodded again. Although he'd love to know what had happened downstairs, he was also needed on this case. He looked towards Sam, who gave him a small nod, assuring him that the former SEAL had it under control.

Sam turned his head back towards his partner and sighed, quickening his step as he saw Callen the Ops room again, no doubt heading for the car so they could get to the crime scenes. When he caught up, he tried to make eye-contact, but Callen was Callen, and continued to stare ahead stubbornly until they reached the car

"Let's go to the primary crime scene first, where the victim was stabbed, then we can walk our way back towards the grass field where lohe ended up dead," Callen finally said.

"Sounds like a plan." But Sam didn't move. After a long moment, Callen turned a questioning look towards his partener.

"What are we waiting for?" he asked. Sam kept his gaze, and Callen was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"For you to tell me what's going on."

"I don't know what you're talking about." It was a half-hearted attempt at diverting the conversation, Callen knew when he was beat, and he knew that Sam was hell-bent on finding out what was going on.

"Stop the BS, G. Why do you always have to be so difficult!" Sam angrily hit his steering wheel with the palm of his hand. He was not about to go and work with his partner not knowing what was going on. Sure, he could let it slide for now, he could just focus on the case, butthe guy wasn't looking like he a freaking ghost. Sam took another look at Callen. He shook his head while doing so. The paleness of the guy in front of him was of a horrible level. Very tiny drops of sweet were lingering on his temples while his eyes were bewildered and angry. Reckless.

"I can't do this, G. Not unless you tell me what's going on for God's sake!" Callen was taken aback by Sam's angry outburst and felt the guilt rising up again… For the hundredth time today. Sam pressed on,

"You're gonna get us both killed if you keep this up man, I know you're up to something, and if you're not gonna tell me, I'm not going with you." Now it was Callen's turn to be irritated.

"What's with all the hatred all of a sudden? Don't be stupid man, I'm not getting us killed." _Only myself_, he thought, but he wisely choose to keep that knowledge to himself.

"G… I know you too well for this. You're so far gone that you're not even acting like everything is okay. Just _tell_ me." Sam stared him straight in the eyes, and Callen caved underneath the pressure. _He needed to tell him something. _But he couldn't tell him everything. He trusted Sam with his life, but he still needed to protect his partner. And so he would help. He couldn't let his best friend risk his job, his _family,_ and his life, just because he himself didn't care so much about his own. He couldn't let that happen.

"It's just... I worry about Kensi. I worry about her a lot. I'm afraid she's up to something." The ground suddenly became very interesting as he felt his partner's scrutinizing gaze. Although it wasn't quite the biggest problem he was dealing with right now, it wasn't a complete lie. He did indeed worry about Kensi, especially after the whole ordeal with the address. She could be _that_ stubborn and she knew it… he knew it. Upon thinking about the address, his hand moved towards his pocket. It was still there. Before walking back towards the OSP room, Callen had already made up his mind. He was going to give the address a little visit after they had finished with the crime scenes.

It was beginning to get late and soon it would be too dark to keep tracking the evidence. They would agree to finish tomorrow, and Sam would offer him a ride home… well… a ride to his hotel. After that, he would go and check out the address scribbled on the little yellow post-it. Sounded like a plan.

Callen was pulled back to reality when Sam broke the silence.

"I worry about her too," he said quietly.

"Yeah. I know."

"I'll keep an eye on her, okay? Will that make you feel better?" Callen turned his head and smiled. It actually would make him feel better.

"You'd save this old man's heart." He touched his stomach with his hand in a faux dramatic gesture. Sam snorted.

"What?"

"I always knew you had your heart in your stomach." Both men laughed as Sam started the engine and drove off, and Callen felt his mood lightening.

"Speaking of which... Isn't that donut place along the way somewhere?"

"Nope."

"Well it would be if we went around the other way."

"If we need to go around for it, how can it be on the way then?"

"Just saying."

After 5 minutes of driving, Sam's stomach started to growl.

"Ugh… Now all I can think about are those donuts!"

A big smirk appeared on Callen's face.


	7. Chapter 7: The Address

**So here's the next chapter.. major plot developments! R&R :)**

**All my thanks to my beta-reader MyOwnWorstCritic**

Chapter Seven: The Address

The pit stop took them longer than expected, but finally they arrived at the primary crime scene. Both agents seemed to have forgotten their argument only half an hour ago, and were already making fun of each other like nothing ever happened.

"You know that you walk like a gangster?" Callen glanced towards his partner, a grin still plastered on his face. Sam shot him an angry look.

"I don't walk like a gangster. I walk like someone who's got everything under control." Callen gave him a confused look.

"How does somebody walk like he's got everything under control?" he asked. Sam smiled.

"Like me."

"So all gangsters have everything under control."

"I am NOT a gangster."

"You walk like one." Callen stared at him with innocent eyes. Sam glared back.

"And if you don't shut it, I'll kill you like a gangster." They stopped when they arrived at the exact spot the security camera had shown the fight had started. They stood silently for a moment before Callen felt he had to make a final comment

"You still walk like a gangster." Abruptly, Sam turned and grabbed his partner by his dark blue long sleeve. With way too much ease, Callen was pulled around by Sam until he was standing right on the spot Glen Fortell had spend his last couple of minutes.

"Since you're so convinced, you'll take the role of the victim." Callen grimaced, already knowing what was going to happen.

"Great," he replied flatly.

"So the victim, Glen Fortell, got into a fight here with the other guy..."

"Let's call him Hank." Callen kept a sincere face. Sam just looked annoyed.

"With _Hank_. They yell a bit, scream a bit, get a little physical, but nothing gets really heated until..." Although prepared, Callen was still surprised when Sam hit his fist against his right leg, "Until Hank stabs him with a syringe.

"Ouch," Callen said pointedly. The look on Sam's face spoke volumes, _You've made your bed, now you gotta lie in it._ Callen turned around.

"And Glen makes a run for it." Both men kept quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Callen finally reached for his phone and speed-dialed Eric. It hadn't finished the first ring before the tech picked up.

"Hi, Callen."

"Eric, which alley did the victim take after he was hit with the syringe?" G could hear Eric typing before he responded,

"From where you're standing, that would be the first street to your left." Sam followed his partner as he walked towards the corner their victim had disappeared around. Turning onto the street, the first thing the partners noticed was the half-dozen side alleys that it split into. Sam let out a sigh.

"No way we can trace his steps back towards the hospital. Just too many possibilities." Instead of replying, G walked down the quiet street towards the first corner on his right. Sam couldn't help but mock him.

"You planning on following his scent?" Still, Callen didn't respond and, out of curiosity, Sam moved closer. His friend was eyeing the sidewalls of the alley suspiciously and Sam followed his gaze. When he didn't see anything, he moved closer until he was right next to Callen's face.

"I spy with my little eye..." Callen returned his partners remark with a juvenile expression and pointed to where he was had been staring

"Just take a good look, Sam." Sam looked, but still didn't get what his friend was referring to. He raised his shoulders in defeat.

"I can't see it. You win. Now tell me what you _do_ see."

"Nothing."

"You see nothing."

"Exactly."

"And how is nothing going to help us here?" A smile worked it's way onto Callen's face. He held his phone against his ear.

"Eric, you're still there?"

"Never left your side."

"Can you find out how many allies over here do have cameras and how many don't?" On the other line, Eric mentally hit his head against a wall. _Why didn't I think of that!_ He frantically started typing and searching.

"The street you're looking into right now is the only one _without_ a camera." In the meantime, Callen had put Eric on speakerphone. Sam finally got it.

"You want to retrace his steps by eliminating the streets _with _cameras…"

"Smart." Eric and Sam replied simultaneously.

"But still a long shot."

"I'll see if I can make his route visible this way. I'll mark the possible options onto the GPS on your phone, Callen. Won't be taking long."

" 'Kay, thanks Eric."

The next hour saw both men walking the streets on Eric's direction. Callen and Sam kept their eyes wide open for any kind of evidence the victim could have left behind while running towards his final destination. Their task was made easy by the remarkable number of security cameras placed throughout the labyrinth that was the hidden streets of Los Angeles. _Big brother is watching you _never felt so true. It left the three men with an easy task. Every now and then they would come across two streets with no cameras, and would split up to continue their search for evidence, always ending up in the same street again.

With only one corner left before they would've had a visual of the grass field near the hospital, Eric spoke up again.

"Guys, there're two little streets left that end up at the field. The right one is quicker, the left is a little bit of a detour but still a possible, since there's no camera angle over there. Both streets end up at the same spot where the victim is finally visible on the camera again. Unfortunately, I can't see which direction he came from." Sam and Callen looked at each other. Both men were sweating from the hike in the Californian sun. Although it was still hot, the sun was becoming less intense and the shadows were getting longer. Callen sighed

"Alright, I'll take the longer way." Sam nodded and walked towards the street to the right. Callen sighed again, tired of the effort undertaken in the last hour, but mostly because of the lack of evidence they had found on the way. It had been hard for him to keep his concentration. The empty, boring streets and the burning sun brought him back to the little piece of paper in his pocket. From time to time he let his hand slide towards it, if for nothing but to be certain it was still there.

His mind was divided between the curiosity of finding out what was hidden at that address and the possible horrible consequences his finding would have on Kensi, and what it could mean for his team. As they walked together, G would spare the occasional glance towards his partner. He couldn't imagine Sam's reaction when he fount out that Callen had been doing things behind his back. He couldn't lose Sam… but he couldn't lose Kensi either.

Reluctantly, Callen pushed his mind back to reality and his body forward to start searching the last street for possible evidence. His eyes slid along the walls, the street and even the sky. Nothing out of the ordinary. He was about to give up all hope when he finally heard Eric.

"Callen, Sam's got something. He's at the end of the street." With new energy, Callen sprinted across the street towards his partner. He found him crouched over something.

"Tell me it's something good." Sam had put on a black latex glove and picked up the object he was looking at to show Callen. Both men stared at it.

"It's a…"

"Cap from a syringe." They took a closer look and saw a bit of liquid sitting on the bottom of the cap.

"The killer was waiting here for the victim; he wanted to finish what the other perpetrator started. He must have lost or pulled the cap of the syringe before heading towards the field."

"And since the cap was lying in the shade, whatever is in it hasn't evaporated," Sam said, letting out a sigh of relief that they finally _had _something.

"Finally we've got a clue." Callen leaned against the brick wall. _Finally_. Sam followed his partner's example, finally giving himself a chance to rest.

"This cap just saved your life." Callen opened his eyes and looked at Sam confused.

"Huh?"

"If we hadn't found anything, I would've killed you for making me walk around in the sun for an hour and a half."

"Hey! I didn't tell the victim to only take the streets without cameras!" The partners shared a smile

"True. Which begs the question…"

"_Why?_ He must've known the locations of the cameras. But why would he hide if he had already been stabbed in plain sight." Sam didn't have an answer.

"Beats me." The former SEAL took another look at his partner and saw his temples covered in sweat. Although perspiration was nowhere near unusual in the afternoon in central California, Callen's forehead was wrinkled from the thoughts vying for attention inside his head, and the bags under his eyes informed Sam that he hadn't had a decent night sleep in a long time.

He pushed himself off the wall and gave his best friend a pat on the shoulder.

"All things that can wait till tomorrow. Come on, I'll drop you off at your place and take the evidence back to headquarters on my way home. You need some sleep." Callen thought about the offer for all of half a second before deciding that he indeed needed some sleep since his head was throbbing from the not-recommended combination of hot sun and a myriad of issues on the brain. But his thoughts soon went straight back to the address, safely stored in his right pocket. _He had a promise to keep. _

"Maybe you're right." He pushed himself off the wall and they walked back towards Sam's car. Sam only grinned.

"I know. I'm always right, remember?" he said, effectively bringing back their usual banter.

The ride to his motel was short, and Callen soon found himself waving goodbye to his partner after promising he would be waiting outside at five of nine tomorrow morning. He entered his room and took a quick shower before changing his clothes. He sat himself on the awful bed and took out the plastic bag with the piece of paper in it. He had recognized the address. It wasn't so far from the motel, maybe a couple of blocks. A five minute walk tops, fifteen to search the place, five minutes back... He could be done in half an hour. He took a glance at his watch. Only 7:30 p.m., and he was far from hungry. Although not dark yet, it was far from completely light outside, but Callen was experienced enough to stay unnoticed in the twilight. He finally made up his mind, and grabbed his gun before slamming his door shut.

He found the street easily enough, but the house number was a more difficult task. The street was long and most houses were abandoned and ready to be demolished. The neighborhood was obviously bad, as if the fact that Callen was the only visitor in the motel he was staying in wasn't enough of a clue. The manager had looked at him as though he must have lost his mind to want a room here, but Callen loved the abandonment, the quiet. The safe knowledge that no one would come knocking in the middle of the night to ask him to be quiet because he had been exercising… no one would think to come looking for him in an abandoned motel in the middle of nowhere

The further he walked down the street, the quieter it became. He had met a couple of people walking dogs along the way, but now the street was deserted, not a living creature in sight. He took another look at the piece of paper and jogged a little further down the road. He stopped at the house in front of the address and slowly made his way around the back. He examined the area around it but found nothing suspicious. The old house had probably once been home to a family, it had friendly looking pink and yellow curtains in the windows, and the paint was chipping, but it had once been a bright, cheerful white.

Callen slowly approached the back door, he studied the neighborhood one last time to be sure he was alone, before he concentrated on the door. He only turned the knob halfway before the door opened on its own and gave way to the house. _Unlocked._ All kinds of alarms went off inside his head, but he continued anyway, his gun now drawn.

Although the windows were still intact and the curtains still there, the inside of the apartment was as good as empty except for a cupboard along the far right wall. The Senior Field Agent cleared both floors, as he was trained to do, before beginning his search. The second floor was completely empty, with that being the only thing that was out of the ordinary.

He made his way back toward the ground floor.

He had missed something.

Beside the cabinet were two chairs facing one another, hidden underneath the staircase. Callen noticed several red spots covering one of the chairs as well as the floor around it. His eyes moved towards the cupboard and he slowly opened its two drawers. In the drawer to his right, he found a bloodied piece of rope and the agent immediately regretted not bringing any gloves.

In the left drawer, he found a white shoebox covered in dust. He carefully took it out of the drawer trying to touch as little as possible. Carefully place the box on the counter, and placed his gun next to it. Slowly, he lifted the lid.

His eyes grew wide.

In the box was a pile of pictures, all yellowed with age and some of them smeared with blood. Next to the pictures was a jagged rock, with parts stained a dark red that looked extremely like blood. Although the rock concerned Callen, the picture lying on top of the pile got his full attention. He carefully picked it up to take a better look at it.

His breath stalled in his throat and he became completely unaware of his surroundings. He only had eyes for the picture in his hands.

A small dark- haired girl was hugging an older man who could've easily been her father. An endless desert was stretched out in the background. The girl was smiling the biggest smile you could possibly imagine.

Callen's attention was pulled back to the present by the creaking of a door.


	8. Chapter 8: Unexpected Visitors

**Sincere and utter apologies for the delay. Hopefully there're still people who'd like to read it :)**

**Enjoy… R&R!**

Chapter Eight: Unexpected Visitors

The moment he heard the footsteps, he already knew it was too late. Although he was fast and well trained in several sports, never would he be able to fight off the person standing behind him whom caught him by surprise.

Callen was fast enough to turn around and to lift his arm halfway in the air, but as predicted his attacker was faster and Callen felt a pain exploding on the left side of his head when the attacker's gun made contact with his skin. The blow was hard enough to leave the Special Agent unbalanced and disoriented. Soon, another blow followed, this time on to his right temple. He felt his uncontrollable body completely losing balance and sliding to the side. The open drawer of the cupboard appeared to be an obstacle on his way to the ground, and G felt another stabbing pain in his head when it made contact with the drawer. With a loud thud, his body crashed down on the floor, leaving him temporarily paralyzed. Miraculously, he didn't lose complete consciousness. Large black spots were dancing before his eyes when he felt droplets of warm liquid leaving his head on both sides. Between the spots, a shadow appeared above him. Although he tried, his head was too banged up for the Agent to see any details of the guy's face.

The person slowly made his way down towards him when Callen felt a piece of paper underneath his left hand. _The picture. _The details of the picture flashed before his eyes. Never had he seen a more beautiful girl than the one in that picture. How he would've wanted to go through all the pictures in that box, to save them in his head so he could never forget them again. _The most beautiful and happiest girl.._ His thoughts were roughly interrupted when he felt a knee collapsing into his torso. A hand around his collar harshly rose his head up so it was facing the intruder who took G by surprise. Even though their faces were inches apart, the black spots he was seeing were growing bigger and were now almost completely blocking his view. He tried to strengthen up, to hold his head up and to put up a fight, but the person had him in a hold and his will to stay awake was no longer enough. He was just in time to put his last energy into folding the picture into his trouser pocket which went unnoticed by the person on top of him. A second later, he felt a needle entering his neck vein and the liquid flowing into his system burned like hell. Before he was completely aware what was happening, the black spots amalgamated and his body went limb.

Callen's attacker waited another minute to make sure the Special Agent was really unconscious when he rose up. He stood there for a short while, bending over the limb form of the NCIS member, clearly pleased with the result. Without any hurry, he made his way towards the front door and opened it. A van was already waiting behind it, the backdoor of it open. Another man stepped out of the car and joined him next to G's body. With ease, both of them lifted G up and threw him in the back of the car without much love. The other man took his seat behind the steering wheel while the intruder took a can out of the back of the van. He stepped into the van and emptied the content onto the front of the house and the grass field in front of it while the van slowly drove away. Just before the attacker closed the backdoor, he threw a lit match. He quickly closed the door.

They just turned around the corner in front of Callen's motel when the house was already completely on fire.

* * *

Sam turned his head for the millionth time to the passenger seat. He was again relieved when he saw the little black bag still lying there on the place which had been occupied by his partner till 10 minutes ago. Sam felt very protective of the little bag. The content of it was the only piece of evidence they had found after a near one and a half hour during search in the soaking heat. When remembering that time, Sam let out a small snort. Although it was a horrible thing to do, he had been glad to be doing it with his partner. They had been making fun of each other the whole time, laughing and sparring too. How different he had thought the afternoon was going to be. Sam's mind wandered back to the conversation he had with Callen in the car right before they left to get donuts. Although the worry about Kensi was a plausible reason, it still wasn't enough to get Callen on edge so much. His behavior had been weird, driven, angry. Usually G was the only person who never showed his emotions, but this time had been different. Something inside Sam though had told him not to push it any further.

Sam soon found himself parking his Challenger in front of their office. He let out a silent prayer when he picked up the bag and quickly made his way towards the building. Inside, he found Hetty sitting at her desk, carefully looking up when she saw Sam entering. She only slowly nodded which was the sign Sam needed to finish the last part towards the OSP centre running. There, he found Eric and Nate still working whom both turned around to greet Sam. Nate quickly rose up with a worried expression on his face.

"You found something? And where's Callen?" Sam smiled.

"Take it easy, Nate. I dropped Callen off at his motel before I came back here. And yes, I found something." He held the black bag up when they were joined by Eric.

"What it is?" The lab tech asked.

"It's a cap from a syringe, probably the one that was used on Fortell to kill him. I'd like you to get someone to run an analysis on it, to search for any fingerprints or what liquid could've been used to kill him." Eric nodded enthusiastically, happy that they had finally found something. His search to get an ID off the attacker had come up empty and his hope had been slowly fading. He quickly took the bag Sam was holding.

"I'm on it." And with that, he made his way out of the OSP room and towards the Pathology Centre. Sam was left alone with Nate.

"You guys find anything?" Nate eyed him suspiciously.

"Unfortunately, no. The brother and the wife don't seem to be involved, so that leaves us with still zero possible suspects. Didn't do the full profiling of the victim yet, though."

"Hmm.." Nate kept looking at him when Sam only gave a sound as an answer. After a couple of awkward seconds, Sam stared back at him, beginning to look annoyed.

"What is it?" Nate quickly looked away.

"Oh, nothing.. it's just…" Sam rolled his eyes.

"It's just what?" Nate knew both Sam and Callen weren't at all pleased to talk to him about their feelings and emotions, but he still had to try.

"I was just wondering why Callen didn't come back with you, that's all." Sam looked at him with careful eyes. He knew how much Callen hated it when they were talking about him behind his back, especially when it came to his 'mental state'.

"It was unnecessary of him to come. It'll take some time to get the syringe processed and there's nothing else we can do right now." Now it was Nate's turn to only make a sound.

"Hmm.." Sam rolled his eyes again, arms throwing in the air for defeat.

"Oh come on, Nate. You don't have to analyze every step we take. For you there's a double meaning behind everything, right? Is there a double meaning behind us eating donuts on the way to the crime scene? Is that an expression of our inner youth to you?"

"You stopped for donuts?" The psychologist only got a look from the guy in front of him.

Although he was sincerely curious, Nate knew that quitting the subject was the best thing to do.

"Okay, okay. I'm just saying. Good night." With that, Nate left the OSP and went to his home to get a good night's rest before another long day was ahead.

What he didn't know was the effect his question had on Sam. While staring at Nate leaving the room, the Special Agent could only think about the truth behind Nate's words. No matter how tired G was, he would double his shifts and work twice as hard when a team member was involved in the case somehow. But when Sam had suggested to drop him off at his motel earlier that evening, Callen had given in too easy. Way too easy.

Sam sighed. There's no reason to think about this now. He looked around the OSP room. Big piles of paper, CD's and DVD's were scattered around the room while the big screens showed multiple pictures of the security camera showing Glen Fortell getting murdered. Eric and Nate had been working hard too. Although a viable part of the team was now missing, Kensi, Sam knew they would find the murderer eventually. With another sigh he left the OSP room, on his way to getting his so much deserving rest before another day would begin.

His thoughts were soon replaced by images of his tv and his bed, but he couldn't help but keeping the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

* * *

**Let me know what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9: Ignorance

**Here's chapter nine.. Enjoy!**

Chapter nine: Ignorance

She had expected she wouldn't, but Kensi had somehow managed to fall asleep that night. She had arrived home early after being given a free day from Hetty but had been unsure of what to do with this free time all of a sudden. She loved her job, partly because it was so unprepared and mostly improvising, and that was exactly why she loved her free time to be planned.

She plumped down on her couch, not yet in the mood to take her coat off. She sat there for a while, staring into the empty space in front of her. Her thoughts wondered back to Callen and the nasty situation she had put him in. She couldn't shake off the guilt she felt for involving him in her own problems. He sure never involved her or the rest of the team in his personal matters. But the way he had talked to her.. she knew he was right. She would've lost her job, her friends and her sanity if she would've continued the search for the mystery of her father's death alone. And at the moment she needed him the most, he had been there for her.

She shook her head, not wanting to get lost in that moment again. And for all their sakes, she needed to get that yellow piece of paper out of her head. She lazily got off her couch and decided to make herself a sandwich while watching some useless television. After a while, her mind drifted off again which was a reason to get up and do something else. She put on her jogging clothes and decided to go for a run. The run was surprisingly relaxing and before she knew it, she had been running for more than an hour with her head empty of all her problems.

But as soon she had made it home, the thoughts came back again and hit her full force this time. She knew she had to keep herself busy so she wouldn't take off to the address on the post-it herself. She had imprinted the address in her head and she knew she wouldn't forget it any time soon. She took a long hot shower before making herself some nice dinner. Just when she settled down for a long night of more stupid TV, her mobile rang. She checked the caller ID and sighed.

"Hey Nate." It took him a few seconds to react while Kensi waited patiently.

"Hey, Kensi. It's Nate." Kensi smiled.

"Yeah, I guessed."

"I was wondering how you were holding up.." Kensi rolled her eyes.

"I'm doing fine." Nate left a little pause before continuing.

"Are you sure?" Now it was Kensi's time to leave a pause to strengthen her answer.

"Yes, I am sure, Nate. I am doing just fine." Nate seemed to be content with that.

"And what are you doing actually?"

"Are you checking up on me?"

"Me? What.. No! I was just wo.." Kensi smiled again.

"Take it easy, Nate, it was a joke."

"Oh.."

"I am just watching TV. And you?"

"Still at OPS. Bumped into Sam earlier. Am about to leave now for a powernap so we're good to go tomorrow. We will get him, Kensi." Kensi's eyes grew wide when she heard Sam's name, but not Callen's. _So he did go after all. _All kind of thoughts went back and forth inside her head. _Had he already been to the address? Was he okay? Should she call him? Should she check on him? _All those questions sounded ridiculous the moment she thought them. She couldn't go to him nor call him. If he had information, he would've called. But how badly she wanted.. Her thoughts were broken off by a voice in her ear.

"Kensi? You're still there?" She shook her head to clear her mind.

"Yeah, yeah, I am. Was thinking about something, that's all."

"Hmm.. okay. Are you sure?"

"Will you stop asking that?" Kensi did get a little annoyed now.

"I am sorry. I will leave you to it then. Sleep tight, Kensi. See you tomorrow."

"You too. Oh and Nate?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For calling. For everything." Kensi heard the man on the other line stop breathing midway.

"Any time. Any time."

Long after the telephone conversation had ended, Kensi was still staring at the phone like it was going to tell her something important. Like it was going to unravel her mysteries any time now. But of course, that didn't happen. At that realization, she radically stood up and made her way to the bed before she could do anything stupid. She quickly changed into her nightwear and drowned herself into her pillow. And although she expected she wouldn't, Kensi somehow managed to fall asleep that night.

How much she didn't know about the events that were about to happen after she would wake up the following morning..

* * *

His head exploded. It felt like a time bomb, that was set to go off the second he tried to do anything. Even when trying to move his eyes without lifting his eyelids, a train of pain and anguish sped through his brain, destroying every neuron that was planning to start working. Even the thought of moving a part of his body felt like a gunshot to his head. And although he never got one in the head, he sure as hell knew how it felt to get shot. Multiple times. He never had forgotten what happened the exact moment that wave of bullets hit him, the horror in the faces surrounding him, the screams, the scared and wet eyes of his partner.. but he had been lucky enough to never feel the pain. He had gone limb after the first bullet hole. He had tried to understand why. The doctors couldn't explain it medically other than 'a state of shock' or 'self defense of the body'. One doctor even claimed that he 'would've died if you had felt the pain'. He had never believed those answers.

Until now.

The pain made him wish he was dead.

All the while trying to clear his mind, the pain never gave him a fair chance to do so. Moments with blinding pain alternated with rather clear spots that appeared within the black cloud inside his brain. Those clear spots showed him a figure, once up close, the other time far away, but never came the shadow in clear view. A cupboard appeared, after a while flowers and chairs. The figure close to his face once again, followed by the sight of a picture. Then.. a needle. Another flash of pain. That picture again. A girl. A desert. Pain. A smile. The happiest smile. Pain. And then..

More pain.

He had already experienced the feeling of an explosion in his head, but the excruciating wave of pain he suddenly felt brought him to the world of insanity. A fire started on the left side of his head, quickly making its way to his eyes which burned like a car filled with gasoline set on fire. All he wanted was to grab his head and start screaming while running around in circles. Yes, like insane people do. But those people didn't seem so insane to him anymore. At least those people _could_ grab their heads and scream while running around in circles. _He _was unable to do anything but to experience the warzone in his head. And it was never ending.

_Carl grabbed the man's head on the left s__ide just next to the wound that was still oozing blood. He checked for a pulse in his neck and still found one. Slow but steady. Very slow but steady. He left the pulse for the time being and tried to open the man's right eye. The sclera was red, the pupil only slightly responding to the incoming light. Not a good sign. Carl's lips curled up. When he heard Will entering, he dropped the man's head without any subtlety. He stood up and joined Will, both now staring down at the unconscious man on the floor before them._

It was inexpressible. The pain didn't stop but continued to destroy his world as he knew it. He was, indeed, wishing for a painless world even if it would mean he'd stay there forever. But the unconsciousness didn't come. In between the flares of pain, he tried to hear the conversation that was just about the unfold.

"_How is he?"_

"_Still alive. Not much though."_

"_No changes so far, then."_

"_Nope." _

"_And why the hell did you bring him here, again?" Carl was not in the mood to have this conversation again, so he turned around and started walking towards the largest table in the room._

"_I already told you."_

"_Enlighten me again please." Carl was about to snap, but the furious undertone of Will didn't go unnoticed by him. He wasn't going to fight Will, not over this. Not after all they have been through._

"_I told you. I remembered forgetting the box with the picture at the house. I went back to destroy it with Steve when I saw the backdoor open. And there he was."_

"_That still doesn't explain why you brought him here of all places. You could've just left him there. Or any other place for that matter."_

"_I couldn't leave him in the house. They would've found him. You know they can identify people by their teeth now? They could've identified him. Or he could've woken up. Or saved by the neighbors." Even though he didn't look in Will's direction, Carl knew his partner in crime was raising his eyebrow again._

"_The guy has been lying her for 10 hours straight without moving a muscle. How on earth could he have woken up in that house already? And neighbors? Which neighbors? That 'hood is abandoned. _

"_Djeez, I don't know. Maybe some jogger who came running by. Or a dog. It's possible you know. And I didn't just wasted my best stuff to leave him there for dead." Will sighed deeply and started moving around._

"_You are truly insane, I'm sure now." Carl just shrugged his shoulders._

"_And now what? For all we know, it could be a cop. Or worse, a NCIS. You don't think anyone is looking for him?" Carl smiled._

"_Look at him Will. That guy is not a cop. It's a tramp. Or a junk. Or both. But not a cop. And definitely not NCIS." Will looked at the man lying on the floor in the corner of the room. His hands and feet were neatly tight, a bound around his neck even tied him to a pipe on the wall behind him. Even though it looked like the guy wasn't going to wake up any time soon, Carl had ensured he wasn't going anywhere even if he did. He took a closer look and needed to admit, his partner was right. The unconscious man was wearing an old grey T-shirt, some holes already forming at random places. His pants weren't looking any better with ravels at the bottom and dirt all over it. He also hadn't shaved in a while and his hairdo was one of someone who didn't want to spend time on it. Not to mention that baby face of his.. Will smiled. That guy wouldn't survive for a week as a cop. He sighed, obviously relieved._

"_Okay. Let's say you're right and he's not a cop. What could've he have been doing there? Did he __look inside the box? Did you leave it open the last time you left that place?" Carl shrugged again. _

"_Hell if I know. I was busy 'interrogating' someone, remember.. But what if he saw? So what, he doesn't know shit about the content." Will still wasn't satisfied._

"_Djeez man. Why doesn't he just wake up so he can tell us what he knows and we can get rid of him." Carl laughed._

"_Yeah, that'd be my fault. I beat him up pretty badly. That sound his skull made when it hit that drawer.." Carl made a cracking sound with his mouth and laughed ruthless. Will started laughing too._

"_Too bad I wasn't there. Reminds me of something.." He winked at Carl. Carl walked up to him and put an arm around his partner's shoulder._

"_Yeah. Don't worry, pall. He'll wake up in a couple of days and we'll let him wish he hadn't. Afterwards we'll see how much use he can be for us. Nothing will stand in our way. In the meantime we can prepare for our next and last stop." _

_The two men took another look at the motionless figure of G. Callen before locking eyes with each other. They both smiled._

"_Derek."_

Finally, darkness came.

And it lasted.


	10. Chapter 10: Minus One

Chapter Ten: Minus one

She was the first one he called. He knew she was the only one who could be knowing more of this. After 5 minutes of waiting, 5 minutes of banging on the motel door and trying his cell a hundred times, he had enough. He asked the key to the motel manager and noticed he gave it way too quickly, he didn't even had to show his badge. But the moment he entered the motel room and only saw the toothbrush and the bottle of water, he knew something was off. He pressed speed dial number 3 and waiting impatiently. She picked up after the first ring.

"Sam! Where are you guys?" The mentioned noticed she sounded stressed and nervous.

"Well, _I__'__m_at Callen's motel, but he is nowhere to be found." It became deadly silent at the other end of the line.

"I'm getting the feeling you know more of this, Kensi." Still silence.

"You need to tell me. I don't know what you guys have been up to, but Callen is not in his room nor picking up his phone, Kensi. That means _Game__Over._Tell me what you know." After another long pause of nothingness on the other end, Sam was about the hang up until he heard her.

"Stay there. I'll be there in ten."

Sam awkwardly stood still in the middle of the empty motel room of his best friend with a growing uneasy feeling. _Why__didn__'__t__Kensi__just__tell__him?__What__have__they__'__ve__been__discussing__behind__his__back?__What__had__happened__to__G?_

She arrived exactly ten minutes later. Sam saw she was visibly upset and omit the reprimand he had made up in his head while waiting. She stood next to Sam and her eyes frantically looked around the room. Bed unmade, toothbrush untouched by the looks of it. Some clothes were dropped on the only chair in the room. The clothes he had been wearing yesterday. His telephone on top of the pile, a light flickering as a reminder of missed calls.

"Oh God.." Sam gently touched her shoulders to let her face him.

"Tell me what happened, Kensi. Tell me." Tears welled up in her eyes when she saw the touched but determined eyes of her colleague. She bowed her head.

"It's my fault." The scene in the OPS room with Callen popped up in Sam's head. _It__'__s__my__fault_, he had said.

"Tell me everything you know." Kensi sighed heavily, trying to get rid of the emotions and to think clearly. Before Sam had called, she had been at the office for an hour already, waiting for anyone to arrive. She wasn't allowed in the OPS room since Hetty had forbidden her the moment she had seen her sitting at her desk. And so she had waited impatiently but got nervous when no one had shown up at the usual time. Just when she was about the call Sam, he had called her.

She sighed another time before she began.

"Callen never wanted me to come to that crime scene. He never even wanted me involved in this case. But I forced him in ways I'm not proud of.." She left a pause, most afraid to admit this part of the story to Sam. But his eyes kept insisting, and so she told him.

"I told him he put our lives at stake with his reckless actions. That he starts infiltrating militia groups and just expects us to save him when he's in danger. Of course I didn't mean it, but I just wanted in so badly." She bowed her head again. "I knew he'd feel guilty and let me in on the case."

Deep inside Sam, a razing fury was building up. How could she have betrayed him like that? But he stayed as calm as possible. He momentarily closed his eyes to return to his calm self before talking to Kensi again.

"Continue." Kensi felt a lump down her throat she couldn't get rid of.

"When we were at the crime scene, Callen was calling with the coroner when I found a post-it with an address on it. I bagged it but didn't mention it to Callen until the moment Hetty threw me off the case. He took the paper from me, but I insisted to not put it together with the rest of the evidence yet. I wanted to check out the address on my own. I had a huge feeling I'd find the cause of my father's death at that address. I just knew it." Although Sam could've guessed the rest of the story knowing the full selflessness of his best friend and partner, he didn't speak but let the woman in front of him finish the story.

"He wouldn't let me. He didn't want me to destroy my career and my life. He was too afraid something would happen to me. And so he told me he'd go. He never told me when or how. Just that he would go. I'm so sorry Sam."

She couldn't fight her tears anymore. Sam pulled her closer towards him and held her for a minute. It was also the time he needed to change the anger and despair inside him into determination to find his partner. If it was the last thing he'd do. He looked at Kensi one more time.

"You remembered it?" She only nodded.

"Let's go."

They smelled the burned wood and grass before they saw it. Instinctively, Sam hit the accelerator when his nostrils alerted him of the recent fire that apparently had been raging in this street. The abandoned street with the dreary empty houses gave both Sam and Kensi the creeps. Kensi looked at the house numbers and calculated the amount of houses they had to pass by before they made it to that faithful number on the post-it.

_10..9..8.._The car was deadly silent while the Challenger raced past the numbers.

_7..6..5.._Panic arose when the remains of the house came into view.

_4..3..2.._Kensi's heart skipped a beat with she saw police cars parked beside it and CSI preparing to enter the house. Sam abruptly hit the brakes which made Kensi pushed forward. His hands were tightly holding the steering wheel as if it was about to fall off. He breathed heavily when he saw the sight before him. Only the basis construction of the house was still holding up, while even the garden was completely vanished by the fire. CSI's entered the house, police men were leaning against their cars, apparently bored by their job to monitor the situation and the people.

Sam turned to face the woman beside him, trying to hide his fear for the life of his partner.

"Are you sure..?" Kensi felt her voice getting caught in her throat. She couldn't look at him.

She only nodded once. After that, everything happened in a rapid. She saw Sam jumping out of the car and hurrying himself towards the police men. When Kensi also exited the car, she saw him showing them his badge. She slowly walked towards them, still complete in trance because of the sight in front of her. Her heart rate had became tachycardic and she felt a drop of sweat making its way down from her temple. From the corner of her eyes, Sam was heavily discussing with the police and some CSI who had become interested when he heard about a possible victim of the fire.

Although she didn't notice it, Kensi had walked closer to the house when she was suddenly stopped by a cop.

"Hey lady, you're not allowed here. Please step away from the scene." She was pulled out of her current state of mind and stared straight into the green eyes of a young cop. It took her a minute to collect her thoughts when she finally showed her badge. He looked at it in shock.

"Oh. Excuse me. But I have orders not to let anyone in. Please talk to my supervisor." He pointed towards the guy Sam was talking to. Kensi wasn't about to give up.

"I have to. There's possible a colleague inside. He could've been there when.." Her voice faltered when she thought about the possibility of Callen in that house at the moment the fire started. The young cop stayed determined.

"I'm sorry. Please talk to my supervisor." She then felt the hand of Sam touching her. She turned to look at his tired face.

"They won't let us in. We have to wait till they find something." Kensi couldn't utter a word. Sam sighed.

"The only good news is that they haven't found anything yet. Or anyone.." Without saying another word, they both looked at the remains of the house. More CSI's entered and exited to house, taking photos and collecting every piece of burned something they found. For a while, they just stood there, watching the rush of people and cars.

"Oh Sam.." Just when the male NCIS agent was about to comfort his colleague, he saw a CSI taking pictures of an object before bagging it. Sam's eyes grew wide. It lay hidden underneath a piece of what looked like cardboard, that way partly saved from the surrounding flames. The CSI slowly lifted it up to put it in a plastic evidence bag. It was black and had a shape Sam would recognize from a thousand feet away. His eyes were trained to notice these objects. When the crime scene investigator walked passed by them, also Kensi had becomes aware of the object. Sam stepped forward, asking the guy to let him show him the evidence. He watched it up close and was struck by horror. When his eyes found Kensi's, he noticed she had the exact same expression on her face.

He was holding a black .45 gun.

A cop gun.

Callen's gun.


	11. Chapter 11: Plus One

Chapter Eleven: Plus One

After another hour, there was still no evidence of a person being in the burned house while it was set on fire. The gun was the only thing worth mentioning.

Still.. Sam couldn't get rid of that nasty feeling inside him. Callen wouldn't just drop his gun, unless he had been in a struggle. And the fact that he was not in the house.. could only mean one option left.

He was kidnapped.

A train of different emotions sped through Sam's head. Besides the feeling of uselessness, fear and determination of finding his friend, he was most of all _angry. _He was angry at himself for buying the excuses G had told him about his behavior. Angry at Kensi for letting Callen walk in a trap and not telling him the truth. But he was even more angry at Callen.. How could he have been so stupid to go look up that address alone? Why hadn't he confided in Sam? He must've known by now Sam would do everything for his best friend, the best partner he ever had, his _baby brother_. From the very beginning Sam had been protective of him. He had known he needed to protect that brilliant and selfless yet simple mind of his, because it was doomed to do stupid things. But Sam also had thought Callen trusted him enough to let him in, to open his shield for him only, so he would be able to hide him from unnecessary danger. But now this. Sam wasn't so sure anymore.

A minute after they had found the gun, Sam had informed the others of the events of last night. He had heard the OPS room go deadly silent while he told the mere facts Kensi had told him and the things they had seen at the motel room and the burned house. Sam was mostly afraid of Hetty's current state of mind, but wasn't able to find out because she hadn't said a single word during his call. She couldn't lose another agent.. it would be the last drop.

Kensi had settled herself down in the Challenger while waiting, still unable to get her head around the things that had just happened, the things that had changed the lives of all the NCIS in mere minutes. And it was her fault. She knew it. How much better had it been if she had been the one gone now.. NCIS was far less without Callen's weird yet great thoughts and plans to let an operation succeed. And now he was gone. In which way he was gone, no one knew. And maybe they'd never know. Besides the gun, nothing of worth had been found in the house. _All traces gone. _There was no evidence, no lead, no nothing. A dead end.

She heard Sam entering the car, but didn't look up. He just sat there for a while without saying a word or moving a muscle. Finally, he moved his head. Kensi still didn't dare look at him.

"Kensi.. don't do this to yourself. Don't blame yourself for this. No one could've known." With eyes tired of crying, she turned to face her colleague.

"How can I not blame myself? First we lose Dom because of me, and now we'll lose Callen because of me. I'm a pure road of destruction. I'm no good for this.." Sam was taken aback by the forceful answer of the woman in front of him, yet he wasn't going to let her delve in self pity. He placed his hand on her cheek so she was looking him straight in the eyes.

"Kensi.. You're the best goddamn young agent I ever had the pleasure to work with. You're fast, smart, witty, a talent at improvising, full of love and care for the people around you. No one in his sane mind would blame you for what has happened, because it has been pure coincidence. You didn't force him to go to the address. And Dom went rogue to go drive through that crazy neighborhood by himself. He wasn't kidnapped while you were there. No one was there. No one is to blame, or everyone is to blame." Kensi's eyes had welled up again, which strengthened Sam.

"We need you now, we need your great actions and plans to save the greatest and stupidest agent of all times." This got a smile from the female agent. She wiped the fresh tear out of the corner of her eye.

"You're right. We have an agent to find. Alive. Only to tell him we'll kill him afterwards." Sam grinned.

"Exactly." They exchanged another look, giving one another extra courage to start this personal mission. Sam then started the engine.

"Nate told us that Hetty wants us back at the office. We're of no use here. She'll arrange someone for temporarily backup."

They were already on their way when Kensi finally asked.

"Nate told you the name of this backup?"

"Some guy named Deeks."

* * *

This operation was going way too slow for him. All that stupid fighting in this amateur version of Fight Club. He got in alright, but the leader and the rest of the group hadn't done anything illegal enough so the LAPD could arrest them for it and put them away in prison for a long time.

He sighed again while resting his sweaty head in his hands. He watched two of the group fighting each other in the ring with fake interest, but in real there were a thousand places he'd rather be during this lovely and sunny day. Jogging.. drinking coffee at a terrace while watching women pass by.. dating that woman he spoke to in a bar the other night.. instead he was watching old guys with tattoos fighting each other.

Marty Deeks was just about to break the record of the longest sigh ever when his phone rang. His _real _phone. He quickly touched 'accept' while finding a place out of hearing sight from the fight club.

"Marty, at your service.."

"Hello, Mr. Deeks. This is Ms. Lange, head of NCIS in Los Angeles." His heart abruptly stopped.

"Woaw.. _The _Ms. Lange? _The _NCIS?"

"I wasn't aware of any other Ms. Lange working at another NCIS in town, Mr. Deeks." He tried to get his breathing under control again.

"Apologies. I mean, it's an honor. To talk to you. For you to call me.. Uhm.. wait.. why did you call me, exactly?" He didn't saw Hetty smiling at the other end of the line. _The stories about this particular LAPD agent appeared to be real after all._

"There's problem at NCIS. I'd like you to join us temporarily until this problem is solved." _Joining NCIS? _Marty didn't have to think twice.

"Absolutely, I'd like to very much. I've heard so much about you and the team and I'd like to be a part of that and complete missions together and.."

"It wasn't a question, Mr. Deeks. I'll send you a text with an address. Be there in 15 minutes, one of my agents will pick you up in a silver SUV." Before he had time to react, the line got disconnected. Deeks stared at his phone in disbelief. _The stories about the boss of NCIS appeared to be real after all. _ Much more time to think wasn't there, so Marty Deeks quickly made up an excuse with the gang members of the fight club and he sped himself towards the given address.

It was going to be an exciting day after all.

* * *

Nate was there waiting for this agent of the LAPD, as Hetty told him so. His mind had a difficult time processing all the events of the last past days. The missing and finding of Dom, the death of Dom, a case of a dead ex-Marine that hits a personal nerve in Kensi, and then Callen. All that Nate could think of was.. Poor Callen. That man must've been through the most times of bad luck you can have in such a short life. And now he was kidnapped.. or even worse. Nate thought of all the emotional and physical pain that guy had been through and was unable to explain how he had turned out to be the man he is now. Or until now. The psychologist couldn't think of a world without G. Callen around. The world wouldn't survive.

Nate stared out the car window while pumping his head full of these kind of thoughts, while he saw a tall and thin man walking towards him. His shirt partly wet of the sweat, his blond hair sticking out in all directions. He waited until the guy slowly made his way towards the side window and knocked on it a few times. Nate let the window down.

"Hey man, you know any Ms.."

"Get in." The blond man only smiled his big smile and quickly made his way to the other side of the car to step in. He offered his hand.

"Hey there, I'm Marty Deeks, LAPD." Nate shook his hand.

"Nate Getz. I'm a psychologist working for the NCIS." Deeks made an 'oo' sound. _That'd explain a lot. _

"Cool." Nate started the car and drove away. From the corner of his eye, he saw Deeks almost jumping up and down in his seat of excitement. A little smile appeared on his face.

"So, what's this problem you guys needed me for?" Marty turned his head around, his permanent smile still there on his face.

Nate's smile on the other hand, immediately vanished. He concentrated on the road, his face stern and diplomatic.

"We'll tell you when we get there."

* * *

Hetty, Eric, Sam and Kensi were already waiting for them in the OPS room. Nate went in first, followed by the LAPD Agent. Marty had secretly hoped for a warm and happy welcome, but had never expected the atmosphere to be so dark. He saw the other four members of the NCIS looking down or eyeing him with suspicion, not one of them offered him their hand.

The moment Nate and Deeks had entered, Hetty took the lead. She had taken her moment back at her desk a moment earlier. She had stared at Callen's case file, at his unfinished reports, the clothes he had worn undercover. She couldn't live with another one of her agent gone. But not just that idea made her sad.. the idea that it was Callen made her angry and upset. It's so not fair, that's the only thing she thought. The problems he had been in, the difficulty to stay alive even when he was still an innocent child.. it had been inhuman. Unworthy of someone so great and selfless. While staring at his file, at his picture taken while he first became a member of the NCIS, she made a promise with herself: she would stay strong, she wouldn't show fear or any emotion. She would bring him back alive.

Hetty slowly made her way to the middle of the OPS room.

"Agents, I'd like to introduce to you, Mr. Deeks, a LAPD Agent. He will temporarily be part of the team without replacing any other member of this team." She said this clear and direct, so there'd be no misinterpretations.

"Mr. Deeks, you already met our personal psychologist, Mr. Getz. Furthermore, I'd like to introduce Mr. Hanna, our experienced Field Agent, Ms. Blye, Junior Field Agent, and our IT-specialist Mr. Beale." All of them nodded once towards the LAPD agent, only Eric smiled and attempted a wave. Deeks rose his hand.

"Hi there. It's nice to join you. I hope I can be of use." No one said a word, so Hetty continued.

"We hope so too, Mr. Deeks. And now let's tell you the reason why we asked you to join us."

"Yes, that's right, you had a problem.." This got him an angry glare from Sam and so Deeks silenced and made himself comfortable next to the table.

"This is _the _problem." While Hetty spoke, they all turned towards the big screen. A large image of Callen appeared on it, the picture from the case file. Deeks looked at it with a crooked head.

"Hmm.. Guy's dead?" Immediately, Sam moved towards Deeks and grabbed him by his T-shirt.

"I should shut your mouth if I were you or.." His grip got stronger. Deeks threw his hands up in defeat and stumbled excuses while Nate tried to get Sam off of him.

"Sam! Don't."

"Mr. Hanna." After hearing Hetty's calm voice, Sam relaxed his grip on Deeks again, slowly releasing him. When he turned around towards the little and strong woman, he calmed down again, his anger subsiding while the fear stayed.

"Mr. Hanna.. Will you explain this situation to Mr. Deeks?" Sam could only look up, straight into the crystal blue eyes of his best friend on screen. He looked calm in the photo, his expression showed that he had settled for the constant unknown of his history and his future. While staring in those eyes, the eyes he came to know more than the eyes knew themselves, he finally found the word he had been looking for to describe the way he felt right now.

Incomplete.

"You're staring into the eyes of G. Callen. He's a Senior Field Agent. He's our team leader. He's my partner."

He felt completely and utterly incomplete.

"He's our friend and he's missing."

* * *

Drifting in and out consciousness, his black world lightened up every once in a while to show him a person, a group. In all those hours he was lying there, unable to move, unable to think, unable to do anything, all his mind could think about were those people showing up in his head.

Sam, Hetty, Nate, Eric… Kensi.

He was glad he still remembered the names since he remembered not much else besides the horrible pain. Those images and names gave him the strength to break through that black hole his body was sucking him in.

And so his unconscious kept fighting the will to surrender every time he thought of those five people.

His five best friends.

His family.


End file.
